Monday TV Recap: More drama at Essendon, Michael Voss ‘in trouble’ and Kane Cornes on ‘busted’ Bevo’
Essendon has been urged to ‘cut hard’ with its list amid news of more injury-related friction. Plus, Kane Cornes has reignited his feud with Luke Beveridge. Here’s what you missed on Monday night.
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Essendon’s injuries and the Western Bulldogs’ form against top-eight teams were among the big talking point during Monday night’s AFL shows.
Plus, a football media great says Carlton coach Michael Voss is ‘in trouble’ and there could be a reason behind Tom De Koning’s recent form slump.
Here’s what you missed on TV last night.
MORE DRAMAS AT ESSENDON
Last week there was talk that senior players at Essendon were losing faith in the club’s management of injuries.
Now it has been revealed that 2021 All-Australian midfielder Darcy Parish sought his own medical advice after going under the knife for back surgery which didn’t go to plan.
Channel 7’s Agenda Setters reported on Monday night that Parish worked with the Essendon medical staff after battling a back injury last December and had fusion surgery which didn’t go well.
Darcy then sought “independent third-party advice” around his back injury which “caused some friction internally at Essendon”.
The 27-year-old has played just three senior games this season, having suffered two calf injuries since recovering from the back issue.
“I think this just speaks to the level of trust at the Essendon Football Club and this goes right back to the pre-season,” reporter Mitch Cleary said.
The news comes after the Bombers confirmed Nick Martin had suffered a season-ending ACL injury on the weekend, adding to an already enormous injury list.
But despite the number of injuries, Matt Guelfi, Dylan Shiel and Archie Perkins all played in the VFL on the weekend, while Jade Gresham was named as an emergency for the club’s AFL clash with Richmond.
St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt said the Bombers had to take a look at their list and “cut hard now”, so that they did not “live in sixth to twelfth” on the ladder “for the next decade”.
“I would cut hard, bring some more talent in, buy yourself some more time,” Riewoldt said.
“Because then the expectations drop again and you can approach it from a real position of strength.
“(They should say) ‘We’ve got a great core, let’s double the amount of young star players we’re going to have at our disposal and build for the next decade’.”
VOSS ‘IN TROUBLE’
Veteran football media figure Mike Sheahan has seen plenty of coach sackings in the AFL over the years and believes Carlton coach Michael Voss will be in the gun at season’s end.
Making a guest appearance on Fox Footy’s On the Couch program, the former Herald Sun Chief Football Writer said while a coach could only do so much they were ultimately responsible for performance.
The Blues played in an elimination final last year but have now won just eight of their past 25 matches.
In his fourth season at Carlton, Voss has an overall winning percentage of 51.7, having recorded 45 wins, one draw and 42 losses.
“Brad Lloyd is in trouble, the recruiting people are in trouble and Vossy’s in trouble,” Sheahan said.
“There’s no question he (Voss) is in trouble. I mean, he doesn’t go out and miss set shots for goal and allow the ball to bounce through when there’s three people and they don’t touch it. That’s not his fault. But there’s something wrong in that footy team and he’s the coach and the buck stops with him.”
DOGS A ‘BUSTED UP CAMRY’
Outspoken AFL commentator Kane Cornes has reignited his feud with Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beverige, hitting out at the premiership coach for failing to get the most out of a talented group.
The Bulldogs suffered an 11-point loss to Adelaide on Saturday, leaving them with a 1-7 record against top-eight teams this season.
Beveridge’s side also ranks ninth for points against this season in what Corns labelled a “deplorable defensive profile”.
“Every single year I sit in a chair like this and we’ve got the same discussion about the Bulldogs,” Cornes said on Channel 7’s Agenda Setters.
“So we’re here again because no coach does less with more than that man, Luke Beveridge. Sam Power (Bulldogs list boss) has handed him a high-powered sports car and he drives it like a busted up Camry. That’s just the reality of it.”
Cornes said he rated the Bulldogs’ list No. 1 or No. 2 in the competition, alongside Brisbane.
“They’re so offensively minded with the football that when you do turn the footy over, off turnover, they’re horrible,” he said.
“And their profile, they don’t score heavily enough off their own turnover.
“They’ll make the finals. But once again, we’re having the exact same conversation about a coach that they re-signed when they didn’t need to.”
Former Hawthorn champion Jordan Lewis said he noticed a “lack of leadership” when watching back behind-the-goals vision of the Bulldogs defence.
“That comes out in communication,” Lewis said on Fox Footy’s On the Couch.
”Luke Hodge was the best I ever saw. If this vision was of Luke Hodge, you would see his arms pointing, and you could actually tell him yelling. Too often when you see this Western Bulldog side – mainly against top eight sides when you don’t have time to recover – (you see) communication breakdown.”
The Bulldogs rank ninth for points against from turnovers at 44.6 per game.
They are 14th for stopping their opposition scoring once inside-50.
TDK’S FORM SLUMP EXPLAINED
The form of out-of-contract Carlton ruckman Tom De Koning has been a big talking point in recent weeks.
But is there a reason for his drop-off?
De Koning averaged 114 SuperCoach ranking points across his first nine games of the season but has averaged just 77 points from his past four outings.
He has been played forward at times, with Marc Pittonet taking back the role as Carlton’s No. 1 ruckman.
It had been speculated that De Koning’s contract situation was becoming a big distraction as he is expected to depart for St Kilda at season’s end on a $1.7 million a year deal.
However, Channel 9’s Footy Classified have reported that De Koning has still been battling a larynx injury which sidelined him in round 10.
“(He has) played since but has been playing under significant suffering and it’s still serious enough for him to be weekly consulting with a specialist,” Damien Barrett reported.
“He has been having trouble even breathing at certain points of matches since sustaining the damage.”
Essendon goalkicking great Matthew Lloyd said he wasn’t sure what effect the injury was having but the evidence was clear that De Koning was not a key forward.
“De Koning has never kicked more than nine goals in a season,” Lloyd said.
‘THAT’S THE LEG-BREAKER’
Melbourne great Garry Lyon has lashed the AFL after West Coast star Harley Reid escaped with a fine for tripping Port Adelaide opponent Travis Boak on Sunday.
Reid has been offered a $10,000 fine ($6250 with a guilty plea) for the incident, in what was his sixth financial sanction this year.
“I’ve defended Harley across the journey. That is a suspension every day of the week,” Lyon said on Fox Footy’s AFL360.
“The past playing cohort who are in the media now will all agree on that. That’s the leg-breaker. That’s a kick. I’m not being overdramatic.
“That’s not a fine, let alone the sixth time he’s been fined this year.
“If you don’t suspend that, you leave the door open for lots of terrible incidents. That’s failed the game, that.”
West Coast coach Andrew McQualter said he was having ongoing discussions with Reid and other players about not crossing the line.
“We want our players to be fiercely competitive, but we also want to stay incredibly disciplined and not give away free kicks,” McQualter said.
“He (Reid) understands it. He wants to win and compete, but he sort of he has to get his balance right. I think when I was 20 years old, I made a few mistakes as well.”
GRAHAM CAN STILL BE CAPTAIN
West Coast coach Andrew McQualter says an “incredibly remorseful” Jack Graham will not be defined by one “really bad error” after the midfielder was suspended for four weeks for making a “homophobic slur” towards an opponent.
Graham had been discussed as a potential captain of West Coast as recently as last week and that has not been ruled out in the wake of the incident coming to light.
“Jack made a really bad error, but I don’t think we should judge that a person just on one mistake,” McQualter said on Fox Footy’s AFL360.
“He’s a terrific leader, and it was an out of character error and he’ll cop a severe punishment for it. Hopefully he’s part of the solution going forward to continue to educate others.
“Jack and the club, we accepted the sanction that was handed down to Jack and he’ll miss a month of footy.”
Graham, 27, was a two-time premiership player with Richmond before joining the Eagles as a free agent at the end of last year.
COLEMAN CONTENDER SIDELINED
Jesse Hogan’s hopes of claiming back-to-back Coleman Medal’s are fading, with the Greater Western Sydney star being ruled out of Thursday night’s clash with Essendon.
Hogan sits fifth on the goalkicking leaderboard with 41 majors – 12 behind Geelong’s Jeremy Cameron – but will have only five more games at most to catch up given he will be sidelined this week.
Hogan returned for Saturday’s win over Geelong but played a season-low 77 per cent game time.
“Jesse Hogan was the one guy we were a little bit cautious about playing in the game against the Cats,” GWS coach Adam Kingsley said on Fox Footy’s AFL360.
“He missed the week previous with a foot and illness, so he won’t make the trip down to Melbourne. We’ll manage him and make sure that that foot settles down a bit.”
Originally published as Monday TV Recap: More drama at Essendon, Michael Voss ‘in trouble’ and Kane Cornes on ‘busted’ Bevo’
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